Academy Grants $500,000 To Film And Cultural Organizations

The Academy Foundation's Institutional Grants Program has awarded a total of $500,000 to 58 film-related nonprofit organizations -- including universities, museums and career development programs -- throughout the United States and in Canada.

Since its establishment in 1968, the foundation, which is the educational wing of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has distributed more than 573 institutional grants.

"One of our primary goals is to increase access to professional opportunities in the motion picture industry," said Grants Committee Chair Andrew Marlowe. "These grants also will help generate greater public interest in film events and screenings throughout the U.S."

The Academy Foundation's Grants Committee selected the following programs for 2008-2009:

Internship Programs$15,000 California Institute of the Arts (Valencia)Columbia University School of the Arts (New York City)Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles)New York University -- Kanbar Institute of Film & TVUniversity of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)University of Southern California Master of Professional Writing ProgramUniversity of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts$13,000 Stanford University$12,500 Columbia College Hollywood (Tarzana, California)North Carolina School of the Arts (Winston-Salem)$10,000 New York University Archiving ProgramUniversity of California, Los Angeles -- Film & Television ProgramWorkplace Hollywood (Hollywood, California)Yale University Film Studies$7,500 Emerson College (Boston)Hampshire College (Amherst, Massachusetts)Pennsylvania State University (University Park)University of North Carolina (Wilmington)University of the Arts (Philadelphia)